The Supreme Court on Thursday revived a requirement that owners of millions of small businesses register with an arm of the Treasury Department charged with fighting money laundering and other financial crimes, the Associated Press reports.
The justices granted an emergency plea made by the Justice Department in the waning days of the Biden administration to allow enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021 to crack down on the illicit use of anonymous shell companies.
Owners and part-owners of an estimated 32.6 million small businesses must register personal information with Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. The information includes photo IDs and home addresses.
The National Small Business Association, which earlier challenged the reporting requirements in court, urged FinCEN to give businesses ample time to comply with the requirement.
